In this art house-style election ad, Republican candidate for governor of Alabama, Tim James, wanders about a shadowy room pondering the single biggest issue currently confronting the state of Alabama: offering driving tests in foreign languages.

"Alabama offers drivers license tests in 12 languages," reads the campaign's caption. "As governor, he will push to have the test given in only one language, English."

Language may be the candidate's strong point but his mathematics isn't so good: Alabama appears to offer driver's theory exams in 13 languages – English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, French, Greek, German, Russian, Arabic and Farsi – plus American sign language, so that would be 14. But who's counting?

"This is Alabama, we speak English," says Tim in the video. "If you want to live here, learn it."Well, the employers of Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai and Honda, among others, may be less than enthusiastic about the English-only plan, since they are the variously German, Korean and Japanese-owned companies who have billions of dollars worth of investments in the great state of Alabama. And who might have employees who want to work there. And drive cars, since they are car-makers.

Alabama has been down this road before, since it was Alabama which has an "English only" amendment to its state constitution. The current governor has backed off English-only driving exams, since the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government would be entitled to deprive the state of federal funding for transportation (a substantial sum).

The good news – for non-English speakers who might want Alabama driving licences – is that Tim James is currently engaged in a tough four-way fight for the Republican nomination, with the leader being the equally well funded Bradley Byrne. The other leading contender is former judge Roy Moore, who readers with long memories may remember as the man who had a copy of the 10 Commandments carved on a granite block and placed in the Alabama state supreme court, until legal battles forced its removal from the building. Moore's cause was championed by Fob James, Tim's father, who was twice elected governor of Alabama, once as a Democrat (when he was mildly progressive) and once as a Republican (when he wasn't).